Why I Oughta...

With the growing season winding down, I'm turning my attention to a couple of things:  chronicling the lessons learned from this past season AND thinking about what I could do NEXT season.  This post is to put down a marker for next year - with something I've come across via YouTube:  Edging.   I've posted some photos/inspiration of edging over the years including this metal edging from Luxembourg Gardens in Paris , this metal vs. brick edging view in 2019  and this boulder edge at a nursery .   Moxie Gardens is a YouTube Channel of a gardener/landscaper who lives in Kansas (I think) and has built a personality-heavy backyard garden with LOTS of unique touches.  One of them is his use of various types of edging.  Here's a video - and screenshot below - that shows how he used 4x6 posts cut-up to different heights to create a curved edging around his patio.  Here's the 275 second mark with this view: Screenshot v ia Moxie Gardens vi...

I *constantly* wonder how bad YouTube is for my kids.  All the time.  They watch - who knows what - on there and while we try to limit what they can/should be watching, there's something VERY STRONG about the draw of YouTube.  But...I'm also keenly aware how wonderful it is.  My most recent example:  I researched, learned and then....was able to buy and change the capacitor on one of our air conditioners.  Part cost $20.  Estimate from HVAC guy?  $350.   My time - about an hour on YouTube.  Then, more time assembly the tools to do the job than actually doing the job.  Now that I've done it, I have a (new) skill - understanding how the most-frequently-bad part on an air conditioner can be replaced.  

Last week, I posted my latest update on our backyard pizza oven build where I mortared in the first course of the cinderblock stand .  I'm on my way this week to swap out some of the blocks and to pick up the rest of the angle iron so I can drystack the rest of the stand.  At risk of getting things out of order, I'm going to talk a little bit about the suspended hearth.  That hearth sits ON TOP of the stand.  It is reinforced concrete that is framed up with a 2x6.  That means - at the VERY MOST, the hearth is 5.5" thick.  But, because you overlap the forms with the block stand, you lose about an inch - so it becomes something like 4.5" thick.   I'm thinking about the hearth and the materials required as I run to the hardware store and I found a bunch tips that I'm going to use in my hearth build via the  Blood Sweat and Beers YouTube channel  -  this video where he walks through his reinforced hearth forms and setup .   I ...

Each Spring and Fall in our neighborhood, if you pay attention, you'll hear the croaking that comes with the bi-annual migration of Sandhill Cranes .  They seem to fly right over our block each Fall (on their way south) and Spring (on their way back north).  Sandhill Cranes fly HIGH in the sky and in weird, sometimes-swirling patterns.   I saw them over the weekend.  Turn up your audio and have a look at their northern migration over the Western Chicago suburbs in mid-March 2024: Here is a link to a similar video of the same flight north last year in 2023 .

I was watching this garden tour on YouTube from Garden Gate Magazine and just about totally fell in love.  What a garden.   There is SO MUCH to appreciate in this one video in this one garden that I'll probably post a few things about it that struck me.  The first of which...is related to gabion-style walls.  Below is a screenshot of the garden tour - at the 9:53 mark ( here's a link to that 9:53 mark in the video ) that shows off a set of pillars that are done gabion-style.  See below: The garden-owner talks about framing and how they use these gabion-style pillars as a way to frame the entrance for visitor's experience.  The gardener saw these in a local garden and decided to replicate them and included putting pots on top.   I've posted about gabion walls back in 2019 when I saw them in an annual garden trend post .   I also posted a few other posts about various walls over the years including this stone wall at Disney's Aulani ...

Now, for the floor that you're walking on, I chose this Bolivian wormwood.  I think it works well in here.  I have the Viking range here and the twin Sub-Z's.  Yeah, they open up right there.  Oh, I get it. Like hidden. Yeah, kind of blend in. Great.  Are you a homeowner, Greg? No, no, I rent. Oh. This one is right up there with the Stern Show drop "I find you highly disgusting" . At least for me and the lolz.

It is well established (in our house) that the best (or at least...my favorite) attraction in the entire Vacation Kingdom is in Epcot called Living with the Land .  What's that?   You haven't been on it? Well...let me tell you about it.  Or...actually...let ChatGPT tell you about it.  I asked her this: Can you describe the attraction at Disney's Epcot center that is called Living with the Land? Why would someone call it their favorite ride at disney? Here's what she said: Living with the Land is a slow-moving boat ride attraction located in the Land Pavilion at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The ride takes guests on a journey through various indoor and outdoor agricultural environments, showcasing different methods of sustainable farming and food production. During the ride, guests can observe a variety of farming techniques, including hydroponics, aquaculture, and integrated pest management. There are also several dioramas that show differ...

Just...when you need the perfect little sound clip in video form for your use to share over text with your partners, spouse, family, fantasy football league, friends, you go looking on YouTube.  Sometimes you find it, sometimes you don't.   Good news, dear Blog readers.  I have you covered.   First...I'm SURE that you've been seeking out the " Twin Sub Z's" line from Meet the Parents , right?  Oh...that's not the one you're looking for?  It should be. But, I understand.  We can't use *that one* all the time.  What's that?  You want the "I find you highly disgusting." line?   Good news.   You can click through to YouTube to grab the original url of this " I find you highly disgusting " clip.  When you need it.. .head over to YouTube .  Then...Copy --> Paste --> Send it.   What's that, you say?  You're confused?  You don't know why I interrupted garden blogging for this? ...

I came across this video from Erin, the Impatient Gardener where she (and Alexandra from the "middle sized garden") talk about five gardening mistakes . And...the first one on their list - Buying just ONE of a plant - really hits home hard for me.   Why does it hit home hard?  Let me count the ways. One , two , three .  For starters.  In all three instances there, I *should* have both more.  Lesson learned. Go watch the whole video .  

Over the break, I found myself watching this Toronto Raptors/Kawhi Leonard 'Return' and Ring Ceremony video on YouTube and that lead me down a rabbit hole of 'return' video tributes.  There's a bunch of Derrick Rose coming back to Chicago clips and there are other things like this King Felix steps off the mound for the last time in Seattle video .  And there's this Mariano Rivera All-Star Game entrance video - which might be the best tribute out there.  He trots in to his "Enter Sandman" intro music and the diamond is empty.  Standing there to a full team and stadium standing ovation he takes it all in.  Pretty awesome. But, on that journey down video lane, I also came across this video that I've embedded above showing Michael Jordan returning (for the last time) in 2003 to the United Center as a Washington Wizard.  Lots to like about this (including how they did a sweet little fake out with the "From North Carolina, at 6' 6...

I came across this Lemon Coral Sedum from Proven Winners in this video from Garden Answer.  I really liked the way it looked in her video, so when I came across it (at the garden center at the Jewel of all places), I had to bring it home.  I put it in a few spots including this wine barrel planter that we have set on our patio.  Like a lot of other sedums, it is drought tolerant, but this one has a neat chartreuse-y color along with those pretty yellow flowers.  I planted this one and it immediately began to establish itself, stretch out and put on this show.  Tucked right in next to the Night Sky Petunia that continues to bloom all Summer long, this part of the pot is doing exactly what I was hoping for in this spot.  The only *miss* in this pot is any sort of mid-level structure/height, but it is getting close to time to rip out those Pansies and replace them with something more fit for the heat of Summer.  Opportunity, right??? This wine barre...

See the lonely boy, out on the weekend Trying to make it pay. Can't relate to joy, he tries to speak and Can't begin to say. Think I'll pack it in and buy a pick-up Take it down to L.A. Find a place to call my own and try to fix up. Start a brand new day. The woman I'm thinking of, she loved me all up But I'm so down today She's so fine, she's in my mind. I hear her callin'. See the lonely boy, out on the weekend Trying to make it pay. Can't relate to joy, he tries to speak and Can't begin to say. She got pictures on the wall, they make me look up From her big brass bed. Now I'm running down the road trying to stay up Somewhere in her head. The woman I'm thinking of, she loved me all up But I'm so down today She's so fine she's in my mind. I hear her callin'. See the lonely boy, out on the weekend Trying to make it pay. Can't relate to joy, he tries to speak and Can...

In my mind, I kind of combine the seven new wonders of the world and the seven natural wonders of the world .  I think one of my sisters has seen the Northern Lights when she went on a trip to Finland.   And I think my oldest sister has seen the Southern Cross when they went to Polynesia for a trip.  Nat's Dad has been to see the Pyramids.  Me?  I've been inside the Colosseum. But it doesn't have a song like this one written for it (that I know of, at least!) Enjoy a little Stephen Stills.  And dream about seeing the Southern Cross...for the first time. ( pssst...don't tell anyone, but turns out that the Southern Cross isn't a wonder of the world.  Technically. )

Chalk one up for YouTube and stumbling on new, interesting things.  I was watching a Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash "Girl from the North Country" video and then was offered up this Ray Charles video as a recommendation.  Had no idea that Ray Charles recorded an entire country record called "Love Country Style" in 1970.  Have to say that is is a pretty great cover version, eh?   My brother-in-law Shaun, who was the first person to turn me on to The Band and gave me his vintage copy of The Last Waltz also gave me a Ray Charles boxed set.  Those were among some of my most cherished ' pieces' of vinyl .  I've admired Ray and his music, but haven't gotten too far into it.  Maybe this country stuff is the ticket in? I use Google Music for all my listening needs, but I can only find this one song from a Greatest Hits compilation on there and the country album isn't available.  For those of you vinyl nerds out there, one of the ' pieces ' t...

Well...they're using what sounds like someone like Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks singing just  a bit of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" in this really cute promo spot for the upcoming 60th Anniversary of the park .  But it is *still* Dylan.  That's kinda awesome. We came in stationwagons. Campers. On planes. To see what Walt had built. And what we found was a place that was always growing. But never grew old. Gotta get there for the 60th, right?

And Dan lets him go on for four+ minutes . He hits the Gary "Noine" a bunch of times - which everyone seems to love including me!

This commercial from Hotels.com makes me laugh so much.  There isn't another spot on television right now that I laugh EVERY time I see it.  Just too funny. "I know that, Janet."  Lulz.

What's is this?   Pizza Poundcake ? That's a line I mutter to myself a lot when I hear people say "What is this?" or "What's this?". Now...you will too.

A week or so ago, I posted this 'Finer Things' video from Steve Winwood and discussed how there isn't a more divisive artist in the Parrillo household .  (Well...maybe Nina Simone?  But...that's for a different post!) Someone I am connected with on Facebook posted this video this am and I *had* to share it here.  It sure makes me smile and move.  With the horns in this one, it sure seems to be more in Nat's wheelhouse than the synth-driven 'Higher Love', right?!?

Picture isn't great, but you get the point.  That massive, heavy tv you have in your guest bedroom or basement....Goodwill won't even take them any more. To the curb you go! Which...reminds me of one of my MOST favorite Simpsons moments (maybe only second to the time when Homer was in the Witness Protection Program). Hey...I can call my Ma from up here !